SD business deals gain momentum

This boutique nail salon and lounge one block from the Hotel del Coronado is listed on BizBen.com for $65,000. Bizben reported that buyers of such businesses are finding it easier to find to get cash to make their purchases.
— BizBen.com

This boutique nail salon and lounge one block from the Hotel del Coronado is listed on BizBen.com for $65,000. Bizben reported that buyers of such businesses are finding it easier to find to get cash to make their purchases.
/ BizBen.com

The number of businesses bought and sold is back on the rise in San Diego, the BizBen Index reported this week, indicating that buyers are getting creative and finding it easier to borrow.

The index, a monthly report from leading business listing website BizBen, recorded a 9 percent increase in the number of businesses that transferred hands last year in San Diego County, to 1,336.

That's the highest number of business purchases completed since 2009. The sales rate in San Diego was on par with the statewide improvement of 9 percent. Throughout California, deals on businesses for sale totaled 14,764 in 2013, up from 14,368 in 2012.

"The upward trend in business sales is a positive indication for 2014, suggesting we'll see continued expansion of California's business-for-sale market," said BizBen.com founder and editor Peter Siegel. "There are a number of factors contributing to the growth, including easier access to borrowed purchase money and smarter strategies being employed by buyers of small businesses."

Even though thousands of baby boomer business owners are looking to sell their firms and retire, Siegel said, it's been difficult to find buyers. Meanwhile, access to cash has been a challenge for many potential buyers.

And while the transaction activity in 2013 was the best in four years, Siegel said, it was nowhere near its pre-recession levels. In 2008, BizBen recorded more than 2,400 deals for San Diego County and nearly 21,700 deals statewide on Main Street businesses like restaurants, gas stations and retail stores.